Skip to main content
Marzipan
Book a 20-minute chat
Nonprofits and charities — a Sydney practice

Website design for nonprofitsand charities that need to be found, trusted and ready.

Accessible, secure web design for Australian charities, NFPs and community organisations. From $5,000. A Sydney practice, working nationally.

  • From $5,000 plus GST
  • Built to WCAG 2.1 AA
  • Fixed price, agreed upfront

Who you're working with

In their words

“With our shoestring budget, we needed a website that was affordable but still welcoming, accessible, and effective — and Marzipan delivered exactly that. They took the time to understand who we are and who we support, creating a site that feels warm, inclusive, and easy to navigate.”

Sanctuary BPD Carer Support Group

A volunteer-run not-for-profit carer support group

Speak to a current client before you enquire

Twelve years, one practitioner, and clients across community services, legal, arts and education. You work with me, not an account manager and a rotating pod.

  • Willow Women's Legal on the Go
  • Environmental Education NSW
  • Arrest 2 Release

Founder led. Systems backed.

How that works
The honest version

Websites don't fail suddenly.They drift.

Most charities come to me with one of three situations: a website built years ago that never quite worked, a site that broke during a migration and nobody knows how to fix, or a board that has finally agreed to invest in something that reflects the organisation properly. All three are fine starting points.

I work with nonprofits, NFPs and registered charities because the stakes are different here. A funder who can't find your annual report, a donor who hits a broken form, a community member searching for your services on a slow mobile connection — these are not inconveniences. They are failures with real consequences.

I build websites that hold up to that scrutiny. Clean, accessible, fast, and structured to be found by the people who need you.

Since 2014

Long-term partnerships include the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, the National Art School and Women's Legal Service NSW. For Sydney organisations I'm available in person for board presentations and working sessions. For everyone else, distance has never been a problem.

01 — What it needs

What a nonprofit websiteactually needs.

Not a checklist built for commercial clients. The foundations that matter when the person finding you may be frightened, watched, or in a hurry.

Trauma-informed, not just accessible

Some of the people arriving on your site are having the worst week of their lives. The design has to hold for them.

Accessibility is a standard you can test against. Trauma-informed design is the judgement that sits on top of it, and it changes real decisions: no autoplaying video, no countdown urgency, no cheerful stock photography sitting over crisis information. It is the difference between a site that is technically compliant and one that a frightened person can actually use.

  • Crisis contacts reachable from any page in one tap, never buried in a menu
  • A quick exit that genuinely leaves the page, and a browsing history that doesn't give someone away
  • Forms that ask only what you need, say why you need it, and don't lose someone's answers if they have to stop
  • Plain language, at the reading level your community actually has, with no eligibility maze before the phone number
  • Sequences that assume someone will be interrupted, and let them pick up where they stopped

Arrest 2 Release is the clearest example: a resource used by women at every stage of the criminal justice system, often on a borrowed phone. Rebuilding With Care sets out how I approach it.

Accessibility built in, not bolted on

WCAG 2.1 AA compliance is a legal obligation for organisations receiving government funding, and an ethical one for everyone else. I build to that standard from the start — not as an afterthought, and not as an upsell. An accessibility complaint is a reputational and legal risk. It is also entirely preventable.

Fast on any connection, on any device

Your audience is not always at a desk on strong wifi. Community members and people in difficult circumstances often find you on a phone, in a waiting room, with limited data. Your website needs to load quickly and work completely in those conditions. I test for it.

Built to be found in search

When someone searches for the services your organisation provides, you should appear — not buried beneath commercial providers or hiding behind a directory listing. I build the structural foundations search engines need: correct schema markup, plain-language service descriptions and clean geographic signals. No tricks, no promises, just the work that earns visibility over time.

A CMS your team can actually use

The best website is one your team can maintain without calling a developer. I build on systems your staff can update themselves — adding events, changing contact details, publishing news — without needing technical knowledge for routine changes.

Google Ad Grant, set up correctly

Registered nonprofits qualify for up to $10,000 a month in free Google advertising. Many aren't using it. Many who are are doing so incorrectly, which risks suspension without warning. I can set it up properly as part of a build, or manage it on its own.

Funder-ready from day one

Funders look at your website before they call. I structure sites to reflect your organisation's credibility clearly — mission, governance, impact and contact details — in a way that satisfies due diligence without needing a separate page for it.

Low-carbon by design

A bloated website costs you twice: slower load times for the people who need you, and a carbon footprint at odds with your own values. I build low-bloat sites and measure the result — recent builds have come in as low as 0.18 grams of CO₂ per page view. If your organisation reports on sustainability, your website shouldn’t be the exception.

02 — What it costs

Fixed price, agreed before I start.

Small charity or community group

$5,000 – $8,000

plus GST. Five to eight pages.

  • Home, about, services, contact and news
  • WCAG 2.1 AA from the first template
  • A CMS your team can run
  • Search foundations and schema

Multiple service areas

$10,000 – $15,000

plus GST. Larger information architecture.

  • Everything in the first tier
  • Intake and referral forms
  • Bilingual or translated content
  • Significant content restructure

I work within tight budgets and I'm direct about what's achievable at each level. If your budget doesn't fit what you're describing, I'll tell you early.

Not sure what you need? Start with the $1,500 diagnosis
03 — Recent work

Built for people in difficult circumstances.

Free tools & resources

Useful things,no email required.

A few tools and guides I've built for purpose-led organisations. Free to use, no strings attached.

Free resource

Free Accessibility Audit

Check your website's accessibility against WCAG 2.1 AA in under a minute. Understand where you're exposed before it becomes a complaint.

Access free

Free resource

Digital Governance Pack

Plain-English documentation of your digital arrangements — security, privacy, and accessibility — in a format funders and boards can actually read.

Access free

Free resource

Rebuilding With Care

A free guide for organisations considering a website rebuild. Covers trauma-informed design, accessibility, content strategy, and how to choose a digital partner who understands your mission.

Access free

Free resource

Google Ad Grant Eligibility

Find out whether your organisation qualifies for up to $10,000/month in free Google advertising — and what's required to use it properly.

Access free
04 — How I work

Four steps, and you canstop at any of them.

I take on fewer clients so I can stay genuinely accountable to each one.

Tell me what you need

A short conversation is usually enough to understand your situation, your budget, and whether I'm the right fit. No jargon, and no proposal before we've spoken.

I look at what you have

If there's an existing site, I review it before recommending anything. What's working, what isn't, what's worth keeping. You don't always need to start from scratch.

A clear scope and a fixed price

I work to a fixed price agreed upfront. No hourly billing, no surprise invoices, and no scope creep without your agreement.

Built, launched and handed over properly

I don't disappear after launch. You get a CMS walkthrough, documentation of what was built, and a clear understanding of what you're responsible for and what I can help with.

05 — Common questions

Asked by almost everyboard.

What does $5,000 get me?

A well-built, accessible website of around five to eight pages — home, about, services, contact, and a news or blog section. Clean design, a CMS your team can use, structured for search, and compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA. That is a complete, professional site for a small organisation.

How is this different from standard web design?

Accountability and audience. An NFP website answers to a board, to funders, and to community members who may be finding you in difficult circumstances on a slow connection. Accessibility compliance, plain-language content, transparent governance information and performance on low-end devices are requirements, not extras. I build to those requirements as standard.

Do you work with organisations outside Sydney?

Yes. Marzipan is a Sydney practice, and for Sydney nonprofits I am available in person for board meetings and workshops. But I work with NFPs and charities across Australia, and most projects are managed remotely without any difficulty.

Can you help with an existing site rather than a rebuild?

Often yes. If your current site is fundamentally sound but needs accessibility remediation, speed improvements or search foundations, that is sometimes a better use of budget than starting over. I will give you an honest assessment.

Do you work with very small community groups?

Yes. Some of my most satisfying work has been with small volunteer-run organisations with limited budgets. If you are clear about what you need and realistic about budget, we can usually find a way to make it work.

What happens after the site launches?

That is up to you. Some clients hand it back and manage it themselves. Others move into an ongoing stewardship arrangement where I handle security, updates and monitoring monthly. Both are fine.

Ongoing digital accountability

Digital Stewardship Programme

Search visibility for purpose-led work

SEO for nonprofits

Up to $10,000 a month in free advertising

Ad Grant eligibility check

Tell me what's worrying you.

A short conversation is usually enough to work out whether I can help and what it might cost. Twenty minutes, and you'll know where you stand.

  • No obligation and no sales process
  • You'll speak to me, not an account manager
  • An honest answer if I'm not the right fit

A sentence or two is plenty.

I reply within one business day.
Begin

Websites for organisations where getting it rightactually matters.

I work with nonprofits and charities across Australia. A small practice, genuine accountability, and no project handoffs.